IF I HADN’T SOLD MY 3 GOATS WE WOULD’VE DIED OF STARVATION
Farmer and single mum Monica Nelson reveals how Scots aid agency helped her and eight children rebuild their lives after floods and family tragedy left them on the brink
WHEN Monica Nelson’s crops were destroyed by flash floods, she faced a life-or-death decision. The single mum of one had seven children to support following a series of family bereavements. But with her maize under kneehigh water and no emergency food supplies in storage, she was left staring into the abyss. Her only option was to sell three of the seven goats she owned thanks to a scheme funded by Scots aid agency SCIAF. On her farm, 500 yards from the banks of Lake Malawi, she is in no doubt what would have happened if she hadn’t had livestock. Monica, 31, said: “That would have been my last day. I could not have survived. The goats saved me as I did not have any other hope of making ends meet.” Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 170 out of 188 nations on the UN’s Human Development Index. In recent years, climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather and made life more unpredictable for the 18million population. At the same time, Monica has had to cope with a series of traumatic events. In 1999, her mum died of malaria and three years ago HIV took her dad. Between 2001 and 2007, she also lost three of her sisters, including the eldest. As a result, she became the main guardian for seven children and young adults, aged seven to 20. Monica said: “Ida was the eldest, so she was responsible for the whole family. When she died, that responsibility transferred to me. “Life was tough and miserable because Ida was the focal point of the family.” The farmer broke down as she recalled the dark times. Monica said: “To find food and school fees for them was very hard on me. That’s why I am crying. “I had problems managing one child and it was very hard to have so many children to take care of. “All the time I was crying because of the ones I had lost and the responsibility I had. “My own child was born with a disability so that compounded the challenge as people would laugh at me.” Monica’s daughter Dorothy Abele, eight, has
an ear growth and in rural communities such conditions carry a stigma.
Despite the difficulties she faced, Monica managed to maintain and develop a one-acre farm in Nankumba, Mangochi where she grows maize, soya beans and ground nuts.
But the progress she made was wiped out when Malawi was hit by flash floods in December 2015.
The natural disaster claimed more than 270 lives and displaced an estimated 230,000 people.
Monica’s village was not the worst hit but the food shortages triggered by the deluge meant many locals had to get by on just one meal a day.
Typically, the family would eat in the evening, either nshima – a staple maize flour dish – or, when things were really bad, a meagre bowl of porridge.
At a time when parts of East Africa are experiencing famine – a humanitarian crisis the UN described as the worst since 1945 – I asked Monica what it is like to have so little.
She replied: “Being hungry is the worst thing to happen to anyone.
“You wake up in the morning knowing you have no food at all and you don’t have the energy to go and do anything to put food on the table.
“You look sickly. You can’t see properly. You don’t have power. When you go to sleep you don’t know where the next meal is going to come from.”
Monica’s problems were
exacerbated by the nieces and nephews who depended on her.
She added: “They would be crying and coming to me asking for food but there was little I could do.
“It was tough because there were times when I thought ‘Maybe we will all die of hunger’.”
During this period, Monica was forced to ask neighbours for any spare scraps of of food and they would often take pity on the children.
The rains stopped in January last year but, in a cruel blow, the country then experienced a drought, causing the few surviving crops to wither.
It costs less than £2 a day for Monica to feed her family but during the bleakest times, she would have to beg or sell household items just to get by. Her only safety net was the support she has received from SCIAF since 2013.
A village bank initiative, funded by the charity, allows locals to borrow money by matching what they are able to pay into it.
As well as the life-saving goats, Monica was also given droughtresistant seeds to plant last November for harvest this spring.
While the family remain at the mercy of weather patterns, Monica appreciates the support she has received from the aid agency and hopes it will continue.
She said: “That’s why I am still here, surviving. This is a testimony that you have to take home.
“I am here because of the support I am getting from Scotland.
“Without the support, I wouldn’t be here.” SCIAF director Alistair Dutton said money raised by the Lenten Wee Box appeal has a massive impact on some of the poorest people on the planet.
He added: “By providing irrigation systems, seeds, farm tools, animals and training, we help poor smallholder farmers in Malawi cope with their increasingly erratic weather, like drought and floods, and build a brighter, more secure future for their families.
“It’s amazing to see the difference a little hand up can make to the lives of some of the world’s poorest communities.”